BEING VULNERABLE

What we’ve learned from Brene Brown

For a lot of men and women in the 21st century, vulnerability is not their strong suit. We live in a culture where you need to be tough in order to survive. Vulnerability is associated with weakness and no one wants to be caught with looking powerless.

Brene Brown shows us it’s okay to be vulnerable from time to time. Here are things you need to understand about vulnerability.

Vulnerability is about being okay with ALL of you

In fact, for you to be truly vulnerable, you need to be okay with ALL of you, otherwise, vulnerability can be appear like a threat. Vulnerability is not just about showing the lovely and acceptable parts of who you are. It’s about revealing things about yourself that not everyone can find to be pretty. Nevertheless, you need to love, even these parts of who you are.

Vulnerability must be your choice

You need to love every bit of yourself if you want to become vulnerable; because at the end of the day, experiencing vulnerability should be your choice.

The thing is, only a few people will consciously choose to be vulnerable.

There’s a fear to revealing who you really are because the world tends to judge.

There’s always the fear to be labeled, misunderstood, and rejected.

No one wants to feel these things and so we avoid vulnerability all together.

We wear a mask to cover our vulnerability.

However, the problem with wearing masks is it steals our integrity, and when our integrity is not interact, things go wrong. Real strength and power comes from being able to operate even from a place of vulnerability, because you choose to show yourself. The beauty of this is you get to say when, where, and how you will reveal your vulnerability. More importantly, you can choose whom you share it with.

Vulnerability is not an issue if you love yourself

When you don’t love yourself, you’ll be afraid to show people the things that you don’t like about yourself. As mentioned, fears of being judged, labeled, and rejected arise from the lack of self-love.

When you love yourself, you are secured.

Judgment, labels, and rejections do not define you.

When you’re less afraid of these things, you can open yourself up more, and thus be vulnerable.

Vulnerability doesn’t come easy

It takes practice.

Especially, if you’ve been living all your life in a guarded manner, then you need to take some time to open yourself up to others.

Once you decide to become vulnerable, opportunities will open up to you for you to choose openness.

When these times come, grab the opportunity to do so.

Vulnerability is rewarded

When you allow yourself to open up to other people, relationships are strengthened. When you place yourself in opportunities where you can be open, you can experience courage. These experiences of vulnerability can open up so many doors for you. More than that, it can allow you to face life, like you’ve never experienced it before.